Elevator



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet l.

N. BEGKWITIH. I

ELEVATOR- No. 499,700; Patented June 20,1893.

FIEJ- (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

N. BEGKWITH. ELEVATOR. No. 499,700. Patented June 20, 1 893.

I I w! w 7J- k3 VVITNEESES 19 INVENTUR fi ya g I mama. 5 Sheets-Sheet a.

k N. BEGKWITH.

ELEVATOR No. 499,700 Patented June 20, 1893.

R U T N E MM W 0., WASHINGTON u c 5 Shawl-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

N. BEOKWITH.

ELEVATOR.

Patented June 204, 1893.

(No Model.) 9 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

N. BBGKWITH.

ELEVATOR.

INVENTEIR- Patented June 20, 1893.

WITNEEEEE UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON BECKWITH, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,700, dated June 20,1893,

Application filed February '7, 1888- Serial No. 263,203- (N'o model.)

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NELSON BEOKWITH, of Cambridge, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Elevators, which will, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, be hereinafter fully described, and specificallydefined in the appended claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1, is a sectional elevation; the section beingvertical and taken as on line Z, Z, Fig. '2; and the View as from thebottom of the sheet in said Fig. 2; or as if standing in the elevatorand looking toward the doors in the wall of the elevator well. Fig. 2,isa sectional plan view: the section being horizontal and taken as on lineY, Y, Fig. 1, and the view being downward as from above that line. Fig.3 is also a sectional plan view; the section being taken horizontal andon line X, X, Figs. 1 and 5,and the view being upward from below thatline; but with the elevator in the position shown in Fig. 5. Fig. at isa detached sectional elevation, the section being vertical and taken online W', Fig. 2, and the view as from the left in that figure. Fig. 5 isalso a detached sectional elevation; the section being vertical andtaken on line V, Fig. 2, and the View as from the left in that figure.Fig. 6, is a view like Fig. 1, but showing a modification. Fig. 7, is asectional plan view; the section being horizontal, and taken on line S,S Fig. 6, and the view as from above that line. Fig. 8, is a detachedsectional elevation; the section being vertical and taken as on line B,Fig. '7, and the view, as from the left in that figure. Fig. 9, is adetached transverse vertical section taken through the doors and catches13, 14, secured thereto as shown in Fig. 1; the view being as from theleft in said Fig. 1.

My invention has more particular relation to that class of elevatorswhich are intended to automatically open and close,in proper time-thegates or doors by which access to and egress from the elevator well ishad; and it consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described,and pointed out in the claims.

Referring again to the drawings, A represents thewall of the elevatorwell.

B, B, are guide-ways for the elevator arranged in the angles of thewell; and C, is the carriage or cage, as it is indifferently termed;this latter being shown as formed with bottom a, standards 12, securedto a, at its respective corners, and at the top to the diagonal crossbeams c; which latter are interlocked with guideways B, as shown in Fig.2. A lower door or door leaf is shown at D, and an upper door or leaf atE; the two being of such relative widths and height as to close, whenproperly arranged,one above the other,the door-way F, in wall A.

Said elevator'well, the cage and doors, are not in and of themselves apart of my invention; as the well and cage may be of any properconstruction; and two doors adapted to be arranged one above the otherto close the same doorway, are shown in United States Patent No.372,107, issued to me October 25, 1887. The elevator proper, or cage,shown at C; having the usual bottom a, standards b, and cross bars 0, isof well known construction and arrangement. Said cage is raised andlowered by means of a rope duly attached to a ring bolt cl, at theintersection of cross beams c, in the usual manner, and as shown in mysaid former patentor by any of the numerous well known means by whichelevator cages are raised and lowered.

For the purpose of automatically opening doors D, E, by the movement ofthe cage when it approaches the doors either in its ascent or descent;and closing the doors whenthe cage has passed them: I haveinvented thefollowing described means. Lower door D, is connected with itscounterweight j, by cord 2', which is carried up over sheaves 70, asshown; said weight being interlocked with a guide 19, secured to wall A,as shown in Fig. 3; and is of such weight relatively to the door as toslightly overbalance the same; so that the door would not of its ownweight move from any position in which it might be placed. Door E, hasattached to it by cord e,passing up over sheaves k,a counterweight h,moving in guideway g; said weight being inferior to the weight of thedoor, in order that the latter when released, as will be described,shall move downward, the intended limit, by its own superior weight; butso slowly as to avoid shocks. Said cord e, is attached to door E bymeans of angle ironf, that projects into the path of door D, so thatwhen the latter rises it will when its upper edge arrives at anglef takedoor E, along with it in its further upward movement. The lower part ofdoor D, is connected with weight j, by cord or chain Z which passesunder sheave m, in order that if by any act of carelessness, a box,barrel or other body he left in the path of the door, so as to preventits closing down, as the weight is being raised; then said cord Z willprevent the weight from rising, and the device that carries the weightup, will be automatically disengaged therefrom, as will be explained;thus preventing the slackening of cord 1', and the deadfall of theweight, when normally released, (as will be explained) to the certaininjury and derangement of parts. Upon door D, is secured the catch n,the seat 19 in which is formed with oblique upper and lower lines, asshown in Fig. 1, in order that the catch bar or detent q, Figs. 1, 2,4;, which is pivoted at 15, and moves laterally in bearing 16, on thecage and engages in said seat, can automatically move out of said seatwhen from any unforseen cause sufficient upward or downward pressure isexerted upon it as when the door does not move freely as intended. Saiddetent or catch bar q, is habitually forced toward catch n, by armspring to secured to cross bars 0, Fig. 2; and it is forced out of seatp, by push bar 15, Figs. 1, 2, 4, which is actuated by cam 8, Figs. 1,2. Upon weight j, is formed or secured a catch u-Figs. 1, 3, 5, 6; inthis catch is a seat to, like that shown at p, in catch n, the faces ofboth said catches v and 42, above and below the seat being formedinclined or cam like as stated and shown. A sliding catch bar or detent00, Fig. 3, secured beneath the bottom of the cage to slide lineally inguides or cleats 17, is habitually forced into contact with saidcatch '0on weight j by the action of arm-spring y.

In operation; supposing cage 0 to be in the position shown in Fig. 10rinany lower position and it is moved upward by its hoisting rope: push bar25, will pass cam s, sufficiently to allow catch bar q to engage in theseat in catch 07., so that the cage will take door D, along with it; andwhen the upper edge ofdoor D, reaches angle f, on door E, that door willbe taken along also; which movement will continue until the doors areraised to fully open doorway F, at which point bar t, will have arrivedat cam 2, Fig. 1, on wall A, which said cam will by its action on barIf, disengage bar g, from catch 11., which Will occur before the floorof the cage arrives at the level of the floor of the story, with whichthe cage doorway is then to communicate. If the cage be stopped at suchfloor, the doors remain open by the conjoint effect of weights h and j.But had the cage continued its upward course, or should it be afterwardstarted .upward from the position just described, the doors will remainopen till the catch bar 50, on the bottom of the cage, arrives at seatto, in catch '1), on weight j, when it would engage the same, by theaction of spring y,Fig. 3-and would carry weightj upward thus relievingdoor D, of its counter weight and allowing it to correspondingly movedownward; the upper door, by reason of its weight h being lighter thanitself, following door D, the allotted distance. When weight j, is thusmoved upward by bar 00, the bar will be disengaged from catch 0;, at theproper point by cam 2 on wall A, (Fig. 1.) When the elevator descends:the doors will be opened in due order, by reason of bar w, engaging inseat to, in catch 11 on weight j, and thereby carrying it downward, andthe doors upward through cord 2, which suspends weight j; the bar beingretracted from the catch o,-at the moment the doors are fully open,byengaging cam 3 (Fig. 1) which like cam 2, is fixed in the well in properposition. Said catch 11, and cams 2 and 3, are so formed and positioned,that lever a; will always, when the cage moves upward,-be disengagedfrom seat w, before its upper shoulder is at the apex of cam 2, and whenthe cage descends, said bar will be disengaged from said seatbefore itslower shoulder reaches the apex of cam 3 so that when the bar rises itwill engage catch '0 to carry it up to allow the doors to close, andwhen it descends it will engage the catch to carry it down in orderthereby to open the doors.

The object of cord Z,-connected with door D, and weight j, as shown, isas before referred to, to prevent injury, in case, from carelessness ofoperatives, or other cause, a barrel or box or other object be left indoorway F, so near the well as to prevent door D, from closing down, asthe elevator passed beyond the door upward: as then weightj would becarried upward slackening cord t', till released by cam 2, when itwouldfall a distance equal to the slack of the cord 2', breaking the same orinjuring other parts. But with the described slightly oblique endshoulders of the seats in the cams, and the resistance of cord Z, to theupward movement of the weight, the detent 00, would be forced out of theseat without injury and without raising the weight. It should be furtherstated that when the cage descends below a doorway, bar q, will engagein catch n, thus closing the doors; the cam s, releasing the bar fromthe catch, at the proper point. I

If preferred, instead of arranging catch 01., at the center of door D,an equivalent catch 5, can be connected with the door by an arm 6,Fig.6and a catch-bar '7,Figs. 6, 7 and 8,provided with an actuating spring8, may be arranged to engage said catch; cams 9 and 10 being arranged todisengage said bar from the catch, the same as cams s, z, disengage bar(1, from catch n. But such arrangement of catch 6, its engaging bar 7,and cams 9, 10, is but an obvious equivalent of the corresponding partsshown in Figs. 1 to 5. And in such case, instead of attaching cord 11 tothe center of the door it may be carried from weight j up over thesheave above said weight, and then directly down to catch 5, to which itwould be attached for operating the door, as shown by dotted lines inFig. 6.

At one edge of door D, I secure the short, rigid arms or hangers 4, inwhich are pivoted the concave-faced sheaves 11, arranged to revolvebetween and upon the guiding supports 12, the opposite edge of the doorbeing arranged to move freely in a groove or guide-way, as shown inFigs. 2, and 7. By thus mounting the door upon said sheaves arranged atone side, and between rigid guides, it is impossible to cramp the dooreither by upward or downward pressure, whether such force is applied atits horizontal center of gravity, as in Fig. l, or at one side next thesheaves, as described, and indicated in Fig. 6, or at the side oppositesaid sheaves, as it will, in either of said cases, travel freely up ordown without pinching, binding, or cramping, as will result when thedoor simply moves in guide-ways or grooves, either with or withoutrollers, as such rollers only act by a thrust motion away from theguideway, while one of my sheaves acts by a thrust movement, and theother by a pull. It will also be obvious that with sufficient height ofrooms, instead of constructing the door with an upper and lower sectionD, E, as shown, the door D, might be made of the height of both, withcounterweight j of proper size; when the described actuating deviceswould perform the same function as when both sections of the door areemployed. Door Emay be dispensed with, in which case door D wouldconstitute a guard. In said Fig. 9, are shown the cam faced catches 13,14, respectively secured to doors D. E. the utility whereof consists inthe fact that should door E, from any cause, fail to descend, by its ownweight, when released by door D, then the engagement of catch 14, with13, would force door E, downward in due order. Said catches are formedcam faced in order that if a person upon the floor of the apartment,should desire to move door E, upward, it may be done by slightlyspringing it inward so that said catches were disengaged; and if door E,was so left, then when door D, moved upward its catch would pass catch13 without raising door E, and thus the catches would resume theirnormal positions.

I do not confine myself to the specific devices shown, by which to openand close the door, as various changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, the essential feature whereofconsists in a door and its weight that so nearly counterbalance eachother, that neither will move downward till the other is raised, saiddoor and weight being united by a suitable cord, rope, or chainsupported by asheave,or pulley, or pulleys, arranged above. the door andweight; suitable catches being arranged upon the door and weight, and acatch-bar, or

equivalent, being arranged upon the cage at or near its top, to engagethe catch upon the door and raise it as the cage rises, and to close thedoor by the same means when the cage descends; also a catch-bar, orequivalent, arranged upon the cage at or near its bottom, to engage thecatch on the weight and carry it up when the cage rises above the floor,thereby allowing the door to move down and close the door-way; 'saidcatch-bar also engaging the catch on the weight, and forcing the latterdownward as the cage descends, thereby raising the door. Thus, by thesemeans, when the door is raised by the ascent of the cage the weightdescends coincidently, by its own gravity, without shock; and when theweight is forced upward by the cage, the door descends coincidently, byits own gravity, without shock; and when the weight is forced downward,by the descent of the cage, the door is coincidently forced upward bythe cord; and when the door is forced downward by the cage, the weightis coincidently forced upward by the cord, cams being arranged to detachsaid catch-bars from the catches on the cage and weight at the properpoint.

Iclaim as my invention- 1. In an elevator, the combination of carriage0, door D, with weight j, to counterpoise it, and attached to the doorby cord '5, supported above the door; catch it, its detent q, and catch1;, with its detent as, with springs to actuate said detents; and camsoperating to detach the same, whereby said door is automatically openedand then released by the rising of said carriage, and is closed by thefarther rising of the carriage and the lifting of weight j,- and as thecarriage descends the door is opened by the forcing down of the weight,and is next closed by the engagement therewith of the carriage; allsubstantially as specified.

2. In an elevator, the combination of carriage 0, door D, itscounter-weighty, and supporting cord '0'; detent q, cams s, z, catch it,catch 1), detent 0c, and cams 2, 3, with means substantially asspecified to operate said detents.

3. The combination of cage 0, doors D, E, arm f, secured to the upperdoor and extended into the path of the lower door, a catch secured uponthe lower door, and a detent arranged upon the cage to automaticallyengage said catch, whereby both doors are raised by the engagement ofsaid detent with the catch upon the lower door when the cage rises.

4. The combination of cage 0, doors D, E, counter-weights h, j, withtheir sustaining cords e, '6', respectively connecting the weights withtheir doors; catch 01, secured to thelower door, arm f, secured to theupper door; catch 2;, on weightj, detents (1, ac, with their actuatingsprings and releasing cams.

5. The combination with door E, partially counter-balanced, and door D,arranged to positively raise door E, of the cam-faced catches 13, 14,respectively secured to said guide-Ways 12, arranged upon opposite sidesdoors, and arranged to operate substantially of said sheaves to furnisha track therefor, 120

as specified. substantially as specified.

6. The combination with an elevator door, r 5 its counter-weighttherewith connected, the NELSON BEOKWIIH' cage, its detent, and a catcharranged to be Witnesses: engaged by said detent, of sheaves 11, piv- T.W. PORTER,

oted upon said door at one side thereof, and EUGENE HUMPHREY.

